Happy Traum Teaches Blues Guitar (Listen & Learn) [Paperback]

Happy Traum (Author)

Book Description

Series: Listen & Learn | Publication Date: August 1, 1999

A Hands-On Beginner's Course In Acoustic Country Blues Homespun Listen & Learn Series Take a lesson in fingerstyle blues guitar from one of the world's most respected teacher/performers. All you need to know is how to play a few basic chords to get started playing along with this user-friendly book/audio package. Beginning with the most basic strumming of a 12-bar blues pattern. Happy gradually starts adding fills, runs, turnarounds, bass rhythms and 'boogie woogie' walking bass patterns that make the basic blues progression come alive. All of these elements are notated in both notes and tab.

Product Details

• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation (August 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0793562554
• ISBN-13: 978-0793562558
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #860,233 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Spotty but good, August 27, 2001

By 

Reader "a_reader_999" (United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Happy Traum Teaches Blues Guitar (Listen & Learn) (Paperback)

This book has a lot of good material. I picked up some new tricks from it. On the other hand, it isn't anywhere near a complete course in beginner acoustic blues. Now, it's always a mistake to expect too much from a single book. Some people seem to think that a single book should turn you into Stevie Ray Vaughan. I won't make that mistake; but it seems like the book ends just as it's really beginning. Three or four more songs would have made me happier and given my review a fourth star.

Nevertheless, the material that *is* here is good. I figure, for the price I paid, if I learn just one really good chop, it's worth the price. I got more than one chop from this book. The book is aimed at beginners; it hits its target fairly well. None of the stuff is terribly hard. Keep in mind that if you're a beginner at guitar, as well as a beginner at acoustic blues, then this stuff will seem impossibly hard at first. But I've bought a ton of books, and I can tell you that there are beginner books that are really aimed at beginners, even if they're tough for a novice to pick up, and then there are books with the word "beginner" in the title that are so stinkin' hard that they still sit on my shelf, and I've been playing for four years. This book is truly aimed at the beginner. In short, there are better choices for beginner acoustic blues, but if you're like me, and you snag just about every available title on acoustic blues you can find, this book is worth getting.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent starter for fingerstyle blues guitar, August 25, 1998

By A Customer

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This review is from: Happy Traum Teaches Blues Guitar (Listen & Learn) (Paperback)

I really enjoyed this book and CD. The book is nicely formatted with clear tablature and notation. The fact that the lessons are annotated with CD track numbers makes the book/CD combination very convenient.

When I first got the book I was a bit disappointed that it contained so few songs - and all in one key (E). But this book is all about starting to get to grips with different styles, licks, turnarounds and rythms that can then be applied to any number of songs. On the CD Happy is always encouraging you to play around with the material and "see what comes out". In the end I found this much more fun and useful than learning another pile of songs by rote.

The CD is great. The playing is very clear and Happy comes across as encouraging and friendly. The rest of my family likes listening to this disk just for fun !

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars USEFUL AND SATISFYING, October 14, 1999

By 

Elizabeth Goldberg (A suburb of Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Happy Traum Teaches Blues Guitar (Listen & Learn) (Paperback)

I am very pleased with this book; it assumes some basic knowledge of chords, which worked perfectly for me. I could start right in on learning something new without going over a bunch of old stuff. What I like most about it is the way it's structured: it will take a song at its simplest (just strumming the chords) and gradually add in some turnarounds, fills, bass, etc. in a way that is very doable and not overwhelming. I find it very satisfying. I definitely would recommend this book/CD for an intermediate guitarist who wants to add some new skills to his or her playing.